Ever since the last day of 2008, workers, patients and visitors have not paid a penny to park at the majority of hospitals, as opposed to the £3 they were being charged before the move.

Three car parks north of the border continue to charge for parking as they are run by the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) - Ninewells, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

The cessation of parking charges part of Scotland’s bid to stick to the not-for-profit principles of the NHS in providing free services for all users, according to health secretary Alex Neil. Charges were abolished at the following hospitals:

Mr Neil said he was happy to hear that scrapping the charges had saved people so much money as it was “an unneeded financial burden on families and those needing treatment at a difficult time”. He said he would like to see free car parking at all hospitals in Scotland but long-term deals with contractors meant that it was not yet possible.

He said the government would be seeking new funding models to stop companies in the private sector profiting from hospital parking and praised boards’ efforts to cope with increased demand, develop more environmentally-friendly means of transport for patients and stop commuters parking in spaces badly needed by NHS staff, hospital patients and visitors.

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Readers' comments
(2)

Anonymous | 22-Apr-2013 5:38 pm

free transport for hospital workers please, including buses and trains,plus free and ample carparking spaces............ welcome to the no chance saloon.

Well lucky old Scotland. Obviously don't have a problem with huge populations using the hospital on the outskirts of town as a cheap park and ride then.They also have an extremely generous share of English tax payers money. Perhaps we could save some of our taxes for ourselves - namely our patients and our scarce and highly expensive staff parking arrangements; and then maybe we could make life a little more bearable in the over crowded and over expensive south of the border too, instead of being subject to the anti English insults and constant bleating of the Scots. After all, we get paid the same (excluding London Weighting of course. But then I don't begrudge them that due to the sheer hell of trying to live and work there).